Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 March 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 378 321 293
Rank change year-on-year -57 -28 +16
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 234 213 331
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.56% 0.70% 0.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.61% 0.75% 0.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 170 137 236
10th Percentile £150 £150 £124
25th Percentile £155 £174 £140
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £200 £200
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% - -
75th Percentile £230 £238 £223
90th Percentile £276 £258 £283
UK excluding London median daily rate £175 £200 £200
% change year-on-year -12.50% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 17 24
10th Percentile £16.25 £17.55 £16.48
25th Percentile £19.54 £21.25 £18.95
Median hourly rate £20.18 £23.00 £22.16
Median % change year-on-year -12.26% +3.80% +18.17%
75th Percentile £21.46 £27.25 £30.06
90th Percentile £31.40 £30.68 £31.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.91 £23.00 £20.25
% change year-on-year -13.43% +13.58% +17.39%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 38,119 28,262 41,512
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.82% 92.85% 92.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,936 17,829 27,270
10th Percentile £310 £290 £275
25th Percentile £409 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £721 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.32% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,335 854 2,415
10th Percentile £14.71 £16.25 £13.05
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.46 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.50 £34.06 £34.53
Median % change year-on-year -1.63% -1.38% -13.68%
75th Percentile £63.88 £64.73 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.18 £72.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year - -7.14% -6.67%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 1 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 1 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 1 March 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -44 219 £195 -4.88% 27
UK excluding London -50 181 £175 -12.50% 22
London -47 51 £201 +0.25% 7
Midlands -23 42 £175 -14.63% 2
North of England -48 39 £175 -14.63% 9
East of England -8 33 £195 -4.88%
East Midlands +3 30 £175 -17.65% 2
South West -25 29 £250 +11.11% 6
South East -49 25 £172 -12.05% 5
North West -35 18 £175 -15.66% 3
Work from Home -16 15 £163 -41.18% 4
West Midlands -48 12 £175 -12.50%
Yorkshire -62 12 £213 -4.49% 6
Wales 0 10 £160 -
North East -8 9 £175 +12.90% 1
Scotland +1 5 £166 +10.50% 1

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 1 March 2026, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 139 (59.40%) Windows
2 106 (45.30%) Microsoft 365
3 91 (38.89%) Microsoft
4 81 (34.62%) Customer Service
5 80 (34.19%) Active Directory
6 74 (31.62%) Windows 10
7 70 (29.91%) Security Cleared
8 69 (29.49%) SC Cleared
9 54 (23.08%) Microsoft Office
10 43 (18.38%) Mac OS
11 39 (16.67%) Android
12 37 (15.81%) Azure
13 36 (15.38%) Cisco
14 34 (14.53%) ITIL
14 34 (14.53%) Microsoft Intune
14 34 (14.53%) SLA
14 34 (14.53%) Wireless
15 33 (14.10%) HP
16 32 (13.68%) Apple
17 31 (13.25%) Business Intelligence
17 31 (13.25%) Digital Marketing
17 31 (13.25%) Programme Management
17 31 (13.25%) SAP
17 31 (13.25%) SCCM
18 30 (12.82%) Dell
19 27 (11.54%) Migration
19 27 (11.54%) Service Delivery
19 27 (11.54%) ServiceNow
20 24 (10.26%) Microsoft Exchange
20 24 (10.26%) Problem-Solving

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 24 (10.26%) Microsoft Exchange
2 22 (9.40%) SharePoint
Applications
1 54 (23.08%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (6.41%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (6.41%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.85%) assyst
2 1 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 106 (45.30%) Microsoft 365
2 37 (15.81%) Azure
3 15 (6.41%) OneDrive
4 12 (5.13%) Entra ID
5 4 (1.71%) Google Ads
5 4 (1.71%) Google Workspace
5 4 (1.71%) Slack
6 1 (0.43%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 34 (14.53%) Wireless
2 18 (7.69%) VPN
3 13 (5.56%) PABX
4 11 (4.70%) DNS
5 9 (3.85%) DHCP
5 9 (3.85%) TCP/IP
6 8 (3.42%) Cisco IOS
6 8 (3.42%) Skype
7 3 (1.28%) Softphone
7 3 (1.28%) Structured Cabling
7 3 (1.28%) Wi-Fi
8 2 (0.85%) Firewall
8 2 (0.85%) LAN
8 2 (0.85%) Telepresence
8 2 (0.85%) Unified Communications
9 1 (0.43%) IPv4
9 1 (0.43%) Network Security
9 1 (0.43%) VLAN
9 1 (0.43%) VoIP
9 1 (0.43%) WAN
Development Applications
1 4 (1.71%) JIRA
General
1 97 (41.45%) Social Skills
2 55 (23.50%) Finance
3 35 (14.96%) Public Sector
4 34 (14.53%) Telecoms
5 31 (13.25%) Electronics
5 31 (13.25%) Manufacturing
5 31 (13.25%) Marketing
6 23 (9.83%) Analytical Skills
7 9 (3.85%) Retail
8 7 (2.99%) Aerospace
8 7 (2.99%) Banking
9 6 (2.56%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (2.56%) Law
10 5 (2.14%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (1.28%) Pharmaceutical
12 2 (0.85%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.85%) Legal
13 1 (0.43%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.43%) Front Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.43%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 30 (12.82%) Smartphone
2 27 (11.54%) Self-Motivation
3 25 (10.68%) Data Centre
4 13 (5.56%) Onboarding
5 10 (4.27%) Mobile App
6 8 (3.42%) Hybrid Cloud
6 8 (3.42%) Management Information System
7 6 (2.56%) Video Conferencing
8 5 (2.14%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (2.14%) Virtual Team
9 3 (1.28%) Hedge funds
9 3 (1.28%) iPad
9 3 (1.28%) iPhone
10 2 (0.85%) Driving Licence
10 2 (0.85%) Tandem
11 1 (0.43%) Analytical Mindset
11 1 (0.43%) Augmented Reality
11 1 (0.43%) BYOD
11 1 (0.43%) Data Protection Act
11 1 (0.43%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 139 (59.40%) Windows
2 74 (31.62%) Windows 10
3 43 (18.38%) Mac OS
4 39 (16.67%) Android
5 17 (7.26%) Apple iOS
6 10 (4.27%) Windows Server
7 6 (2.56%) Windows 7
8 4 (1.71%) Windows 8
9 1 (0.43%) Linux
9 1 (0.43%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.43%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 81 (34.62%) Customer Service
2 34 (14.53%) ITIL
3 31 (13.25%) Business Intelligence
3 31 (13.25%) Digital Marketing
3 31 (13.25%) Programme Management
4 27 (11.54%) Migration
4 27 (11.54%) Service Delivery
5 24 (10.26%) Problem-Solving
6 23 (9.83%) Service Management
7 19 (8.12%) Continuous Improvement
8 18 (7.69%) ITSM
8 18 (7.69%) Time Management
9 14 (5.98%) Asset Management
9 14 (5.98%) Incident Management
9 14 (5.98%) Logistics
10 12 (5.13%) Inventory Management
10 12 (5.13%) Workflow
11 11 (4.70%) Computer Science
11 11 (4.70%) Mobile Device Management
12 10 (4.27%) Infrastructure Management
Programming Languages
1 17 (7.26%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.43%) Python
Qualifications
1 70 (29.91%) Security Cleared
2 69 (29.49%) SC Cleared
3 16 (6.84%) Degree
4 11 (4.70%) ITIL Certification
5 6 (2.56%) A+ Certification
6 3 (1.28%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (1.28%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (14.53%) SLA
2 7 (2.99%) GDPR
3 2 (0.85%) QA
System Software
1 80 (34.19%) Active Directory
2 9 (3.85%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (2.14%) Firmware
4 1 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.43%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.43%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 34 (14.53%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (13.25%) SCCM
3 2 (0.85%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 91 (38.89%) Microsoft
2 36 (15.38%) Cisco
3 33 (14.10%) HP
4 32 (13.68%) Apple
5 31 (13.25%) SAP
6 30 (12.82%) Dell
7 27 (11.54%) ServiceNow
8 5 (2.14%) Google
8 5 (2.14%) McAfee
8 5 (2.14%) Remedy
9 3 (1.28%) Bloomberg
9 3 (1.28%) Starlink
10 2 (0.85%) Salesforce
11 1 (0.43%) Altiris
11 1 (0.43%) Barracuda Networks
11 1 (0.43%) Citrix
11 1 (0.43%) CrowdStrike
11 1 (0.43%) SolarWinds
11 1 (0.43%) Veeam
11 1 (0.43%) VMware